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Although exposed to bagpipes at an early age, I didn't start playing until much later. Both of my brothers
and my father were heavily involved in the local pipe band. I had absolutely no inclination to play
bagpipes until September 1971, five months before my 21st birthday.
When the bug bit, it bit hard,
and I was on parade for Rememberance Day, November 11, 1971. As I recall, I knew two tunes, which was
also the number of drones that I was blowing on a loaner bagpipe. I had no idea what I was doing.
The band I was with, Kitchener Legion Branch 50 had seen many good pipers and drummers over the years
(including Jim MacGillivray) and we set our sights on putting the band into Grade 4 competition. As
I recall, we won most of the contests in 1972, but lost the big prize in Maxville to Gail Brown's band.
She had a great bunch of future Grade 1 pipers and drummers in the band and they played a great contest.
The highlight of the season came the following week when we placed 3rd out of 46 bands at the first
Scottish World Festival in Toronto. The late John Wilson was one of the piping judges and I recall him
having some nice things to say about us.
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This is about all I have left from that first year at RCL Branch 50. The PM was my father, The Chief.
On the far right at the back is PS Kevin MacDonald, who currently plays with Maple Ridge. To Kevin's
right is my younger brother Tom, who was a triple threat on bass, tenor, and side drum. I'm next to
Tom and older brother Will is next to me. From this group five of us went on to play Grade 1.
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Personally, I hit a turning point when I watched the Grade 1 bands marching across the field playing
Jean Mauchline. By the end of September I had joined the Waterloo Regional Police Pipe Band, a Grade
1 band under PM Duncan MacLaughlan.
That winter I practiced an average of three hours each day,
plus attended two formal practices each week. I learned two sets and two medleys and about 40 or more
marching around tunes. I played the first contest at Alma in May of 1973 and every contest thereafter
for the next several years. The guys in the band were great. What I lacked in experience I made up
in sheer determination. I relied heavily on Alex Brewster, Lewis Yeager, John Modrowski and few others.
To their credit, they pulled me through.
By the late 1970's we had seen the rise and fall of
WRPPB. We challenged powerhouse Clan MacFarlane for a few years, but only managed one victory over them.
By the late '70's dwindling numbers put us back into Grade 2 under PM Jake Watson. Jake was (is) a
fierce competitor and one of my fondest memories was winning the Grade 2 contest at Toronto with seven
pipers. O.K. with six pipers. Jake stuck a twig into one piper's chanter. We went out on the field
and played The Highland Wedding set with a huge sound. People couldn't believe that seven pipers were
putting out such a sound. We never found it necessary to mention the twig.
In 1980 I had
all but given up piping. I moved to Edmonton to pursue my banking career and the pipes remained under
my bed for five years. I returned to Ontario in 1985 and immediately got the urge to play again. In
1987 I moved to St. Catharines and decided to give it one more try, this time with Clan MacFarlane.
I played with The Clan until its breakup in 1993. We were still a very respected and competitive
band, however our numbers were small and weary. With the loss of three of our brightest stars (Dan Kenny,
Dave Hicks, and Iain Speirs) and with great trepidation, the band voted to cease operation. Some of
the members joined Jake Watson at Metro Toronto Police Pipe Band, and were regulars when that band won
Champion Supreme in Grade 1 a couple of years later. I decided to call it quits.
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In the summer of 1993 I was called to do a piping job for the Niagara Regional Police. They had
fallen on hard times and were looking for mercenary pipers for a job in Nashville. I was later approached
by the founder, PM Jim Caddis, to take over the band. I did so, and by May of 1994 we had 24 pipers
and looked and sounded like a
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pipe band. The following year we won both the Canadian and US Championship contests in Grade three.
Ed Neigh judged our MSR at Cambridge and remarked "interesting opening tune." What else...The Drunken
Piper. My fondest memory was sending John Perrie up to claim the prize. John was 70 years young at
the time. His son Graham was in the drum corps and grandson Andrew was in the pipe section. John's piping
history included a stint with Donald Shaw Ramsey and the Edinburgh City Police Pipe Band. When John
snapped to attention to take the prize, he looked 25 years young. In the spring of 1996 work again took
me away from piping.
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In 1997 & 1998 I played with Dofasco Pipeband, along with ex-Clan piper Garry Hall, under Jamie
Connolly. We were declared Champion Supreme, Grade 2, and North American Champions in '97 and '98. Jamie
and the boys relocated to become the Celtic Flair and I rejoined NRP, again repeating as Champion Supreme,
Grade 2, in 1999 and 2000. I was happy to be part of some very memorable performances with NRP at the
Worlds, including a 6th place finish in the downpour of 1999 (piping scores were 2nd and 3rd), a third
place finish in 2000, and a second place finish in 2001.
A strong desire to rebuild the foundation
of piping and drumming in the Niagara Region brought me to Braemar Pipe Band. I did double-duty with
NRP in 2001 before dedicating myself to Braemar and a vast building program. At the height of our program
we had over sixty pipers and forty drummers on our roster.
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In 2004 our Grade 5 band (Jack Dunbar Memorial Pipe Band) and our Grade 3 band both won North American
Championships at Maxville in big rain! We also pulled off a clean sweep, winning Grades 5, 4, and 3
and the Central NY Highland Games in Syracuse. At the AGM our Grade 3 band was promoted to Grade 2 for
the 2005 competition season.
In January 2006 I left Braemar to teach out-of-country. The Braemar
organization struggled to find itself under new management however by September most members had left
for other places. The few remaining members reorganized as The Scottish Club of St. Catharines Pipe
Band.
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Yes, on parade we put out an awesome sight and sound. My goal was to build an organization similar
to SFU's. Sadly, I failed. On the bright side, several moved up become members of Ontario's Grade 1
bands.
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My desire to teach has now taken me to St. John's Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield Wisconsin.
I teach the bagpipe program as well as provide instruction and workshops for several bands and individuals
throughout the area. Here's a picture of the boys doing the Cinco de Mayo parade in Peubla, Mexico.
About one million people lined the three mile parade!
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So that's my story. It's been a great 35 years and I'm not through yet. My forte has been my ability
to consistently produce a solid bagpipe. I've played in some pretty impressive circles and I've had
a hand in building some pretty good bands.
Feel free to drop me a line, even if it's just to say
hello. Also, stop by when you see me out with the band.
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